States Should Emulate FADAMA Model- Lagos State Govt

The Lagos State Government has urged various levels of government across the Nation to emulate the FADAMA model since its policies have been very efficient and productive in improving the agricultural sector in the country.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, made the suggestion over the weekend when he received members of the Implementation Completion Review Mission Team of FADAMA in his office at Alausa, noting that FADAMA legacies are enduring having thrived for almost three decades through various regimes and eras including military and democratic governments.

Lawal commended members of the Team, saying that Lagos State has benefited a lot from FADAMA projects as it has inspired certain policies that the State has embarked upon to improve food security and availability in the State.

The Commissioner expressed joy that the FADAMA project particularly aligns closely with the T.H.E.M.E.S development agenda of the State Government of making Lagos a 21st Century economy through grants transfer for livelihood support, direct and indirect employment, rapid increment in the national food basket and many others.

According to Lawal, the State Government is already planning to mainstream the FADAMA model into its agriculture delivery system, especially with her initiatives on rice with the imminent completion of the 32MT per hour capacity rice mill at Imota.

“FADAMA legacies are enduring, having thrived for almost three decades through various regimes including military and civilians, hence governments at all levels should mainstream FADAMA model into their activities. We in Lagos State had already keyed into the AF Project with our investment in the upgrade of the hitherto 2.5MT rice mill at Imota to a 32MT/hr integrated facility which is set to create over 250,000 jobs on completion”, Lawal noted.

While admitting that the State alone cannot produce enough to meet the paddy needs of the new Imota Rice Mill, the Commissioner expressed the willingness of the government to partner with other States and stakeholders to source paddy for the needs of the Imota Rice Mill.

The Commissioner urged members of the team to visit the site of the nearly completed Imota rice Mill when the team embarks on Field visits of FADAMA project sites in order to have a firsthand experience of the Mill.

Recall that the FADAMA III (Additional Financing) Project is a grant to Lagos State from the World Bank (IDA) Loan, through the Federal Government, to support the ramping and upscale of selected staples including Rice, Cassava, Tomato and Sorghum across the country.

The project, which operated for five years between 2014 and 2019 with Lagos State participating as a core State with rice mandate, technically closed on 31st December 2019 across the nation.

The Federal Government Borrower’s implementation Completion Review (ICR) Mission was a statutory exercise by the Federal Government to review the activities with a view to independently assessing, ascertaining and documenting project’s achievements, success stories, learning points, key challenges and making recommendations for future projects and the team comprises representatives from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Project Coordinating Unit (PCU), Federal Ministry of Finance and Consultants.

The team was received by the State Commissioner for Agriculture, the Permanent Secretary, Directors in the Ministry, representatives of the Ministries of Economic Planning and Budget, Finance and Farmers’ representatives among others.